Friday, June 26, 2015

I don't know about any of you, but every now and then, for at least 1 or 2 years, there appears TWO SUNS in the sky.

For a very long time, I didn't care and forgot about it as soon as I was inside, or thought the fainter image in the sky was a reflection of the moon.

Now I see videos that say that "Planet X" also known as "Nebiru" is reaching closer to our planet Earth.
I have heard that story since the late 1990s, and why should I believe that, when nobody including NASA will even show us clear videos/photos of the moon's surface, which is a lot closer?

Sunday, June 21, 2015

The term "Sodomite" was originally used to refer to an inhabitant of Sodom -- an ancient city located somewhere on a plain in Canaan.

It later became a legal term to refer to criminal sexual acts.
the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality
men who wanted sex with men.

celebrities , musicians, actors, YouTubers , radio and tv and podcast hosts, etc etc etc
like to laugh at anyone that believes in a "God" that condemns homosexuality.

They are blind if they can't see that the past century that led to tolerance of it and made "legal" in many places, is likely just a step before pedophilia is also made "legal" as you rarely hear of homosexuals speak against groups like NAMBLA.

Here's a video with speakers from one of the most famous churches HATED in the USA that simply warn you. and the idiots in the audience laugh.

It appears the majority of this planet's population is turning filthier.
IF there is no God and no after-life punishment, then nothing to worry about.

IF there is a God, then will it look good on those that laughed at Him ?

I used to think from past evidence that Sodom was buried under the Dead Sea.
Checking today for some links, new proofs are it wasn't in that exact spot, but further south..

Friday, June 19, 2015

TANK - “No Point Asking Me About What Those Wankers Are Going On Doing”

June 17, 2015, 2 days ago

By Martin Popoff

featureheavy metaltank

When there was no Algy Ward on the
horizon, it was tolerable ‘aving a go at another Tank. Well, no it
wasn’t. Good band as they were, without the chief writer and vocalist
and none of the original classic power trio, it simply wasn’t Tank.

Underscore that, because when Algy stormed back with the magnificent
old school metal clinic that was Breath of the Pit in 2013, it became
graphically clear the overpowering extent to which Algy was Tank.
Acceptable quality and perfectly fitting that the use of drum machine
was, what was frightful was just how superlative each riff upon each
riff was, and is, on that damn thing. Notwithstanding that we got the
classic original vocalist for Tank, but man, here was Algy performing
the whole damn album, and then every song was sturdy and hooky and loud
and proud. If, perchance, it had been recorded with less fuzz and
distortion and maybe a live drummer, Breath of the Pit might have been
the best metal album of 2013.

And here we are two years later, with the Tucker and Evan version of
Tank about to release a new album called Valley of Tears, while Algy...

“The album is Sturmpanzer, and it’s an album that those miscreants
didn’t want to play on. So it’s just me. Same as on the last one. Just
me.”

That’s Algy, speaking barely decipherable down the line and that’s
about all I could get out of the man, on what was about the longest,
toughest hour-plus of chat this scribe has had through 1600-plus
interviews.

Part of it’s my fault, as I really treated the attempted chat as a
retrospective. After all, Algy played on two of my favourite ten punk
albums of all time, Eternally Yours from The Saints and Machine Gun
Etiquette from The Damned. Plus those first three Tank albums... there
are a lot of records in the world, but I’d not deny any of them a slot
in anyone’s Top 100, including mine, on any given day.

But yeah, let’s just say I had much trouble following the metal
legend’s train of thought as he responded, usually disagreeing but in
good nature to most of my questions, and with long pauses and lots of
restarts, and often coming around to the answer I expected in the end.
Add to that a heavy English accent, many stops for fits of laughter, a
general sense of defiance and contrarianism, and that he’d go all
muffled when he’s be trying to roll a cigarette, and... you get the
picture.

“Same as on Breath of the Pit,” continues Algy, who says
stylistically, after one of them long pauses, “it’s about the same. It
kind of would’ve been the same as if anyone was playing on it. It’s just
what I wanted to do.”

Well, okay, here’s an example of what I mean, even though I’m just
going to give you the highlights where I understood the point. Asked if
given his Saints and Damned experience, he had put together Tank from
more of a punk philosophy than that of your average metalhead, he
says...

“No, no, no, those things... not those things. You’re trying out
Americanisms now (laughs). No need to apologize. No, no, no, all I did
was stuff that was edgy. So that’s it, really. To myself, well, me,
personally, there’s no difference. No, no, no, I’m 55 years old, and the
first single I ever bought was ‘My Generation’ in 1965 by The Who. And I
was listening to jazz and blues when I was in my mother’s womb
(laughs). I don’t listen to heavy rock, or I don’t listen... I listen to
the stuff I want to listen to.”

But given Tank’s essential pioneering thrashy heavy metal sound, sort
of the down-rent end of the NWOBHM... surely there was some knowledge
and love for metal in there somewhere?

“In the mid-‘70s? I was listening to all sorts in the mid-‘70s. Oh,
no, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin... you’ve got to realize, I’m not... I
can’t be confined by what I listened to. I’m esoteric, I suppose. But I
like what I like, and if I don’t like it, well then I won’t fucking
listen to it. No point, in those days.”

“My brother and I were into ‘70s heavy rock, with Black Sabbath, Deep
Purple, all that sort of thing, a bit of Led Zeppelin thrown in,”
confirms original Tank drummer Mark Brabbs, his brother being classic
lineup axe-purveyor Pete Brabbs. “Algy was always a ZZ Top man, and even
when he went through his punk period, he was still into ZZ Top, and
obviously, Motorhead and Deep Purple. So we were all pretty much
rockers. I mean, I got into the punk thing. I hated when it first came
out. I remember going to see The Damned before Algy joined them, in
Croydon. And Rat Scabies came up, and they were supporting someone like
Stray, some heavy rock band. Rat said come up and jam. And I said,
‘Well, I don’t know what you’re playing.’ And they’re like, ‘It doesn’t
matter. Get up and make a noise.’ And I thought, this is a bit childish.
And I didn’t really get it until I heard, actually, ‘New Rose,’ from
The Damned and when Stranglers put out ‘Peaches.’ And then Never Mind
The Bollocks came out, the Sex Pistols, and that really kicked the whole
industry in England right up the backside.”

“But the punk element of the band mainly came from Algy,” continues
Mark, “and actually, my brother, he liked some of that. I wasn’t into
that. I was more into sort of dinosaur rock bands. But then, obviously,
when we started jamming the songs, it just became what it was. We didn’t
aim to be anything other than what came out, when we got together. So
it wasn’t preconceived, like, let’s do this, let’s do that. And it kind
of reflected our lifestyle. Because when we were young, we were party
animals. We lived life in the fast lane. So it’s kind of safe if you
listen to the early demos of some of those songs that made it onto Filth
Hounds. Some of the playing is almost subtle, you could say, compared
to what the finished article became, which was a lot faster, a lot more
aggressive. And that was probably down to more lifestyle than musical
influences, if that makes sense.”

Okay, so, back to Algy, what is the concept behind Tank?

“Well I have the same attitude that I’ve always had. You know, hate
the world and misanthropy. You know what that means? And odium as well,
just hatred. In-your-face, if you don’t like it, fuck off.”

Pressing the issue, I tell Algy that me an’ the buds always saw the
band not only as the baby Motorhead, but the thinking man’s Motorhead.

“Well, I take that as a compliment,” laughs Ward. “My lyrics, I
wasn’t into... you know, people say that that we’re Motorhead copyists. I
wrote most of those incredibly difficult rhythms and riffs and all
that. It was a degree of difficulty that Motorhead... Eddie could never
have played those riffs. It wasn’t no influence on me at all, because
you’ve got to realize that I already knew them. I knew them since 1977.
So no, just because we had the same management... I mean that is just
bad journalism.”

So what did Fast Eddie Clarke bring to the table, producing the band’s first album, Filth Hounds of Hades?
“Nothing really, he just brought a lot of drink and a load of
amphetamines, that’s all. And said it wasn’t loud enough (laughs).”

Not the favourite then?

“Well, I like them all for different reasons. I like the second one,
because it’s the best sounding. And it’s... unfortunately, Nigel Gray
didn’t know how to do... he did The Police and various other people, so
he couldn’t handle having the loud guitars, you know, properly. He
always had to have some other nonsense on it. But I wish Filth Hounds
was sounding like the second, and I wish we had enough time on the first
and third, that we had on the second, if you see what I mean. Eddie, he
had to finish Filth Hounds quick to go and do Iron Fist. And then he
pissed off, and then went to what would become Fastway. And then a
couple of the songs on the Fastway album would’ve ended up on the Iron
Fist album, or, well, whatever the next Motorhead album would’ve been,
and he just had enough of that sort of nonsense. And Nigel Gray had,
obviously on the same management, Girlschool, so we thought, why not
give him a go—why not?”

In any event, not a big fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, our Algy.

“When all that fucking load of bullshit was going about, I was in The
Damned. Iron Maiden and Saxon and everything else, I had nothing to do
with all that shit. You have to remember, I was in The Damned from ‘78
until January 1, 1980, and that’s when all the Maiden and what was it,
Toad the Wet Sprocket and all that God-awful bullshit was going on. And I
wasn’t interested in all that shit. The first time I saw Iron Maiden, I
went to meet somebody at The Marquee, in Wardour Street. And there’s
this band playing and they were fucking dreadful. It was awful. And then
a few months later, they were on a children’s early morning TV, and
they had a video out at the time called ‘Women in Uniform,’ which I
knew, being in The Saints, was from some Australian band. And I thought,
what the fuck are they doing that for? And that was the video, and
they’re on this kids’TV show and they all got custard pied. You can
probably find that on YouTube or some other bollocks somewhere. But the
first time I saw them in The Marquee, they were fucking awful. I think
they did a couple of Montrose covers. They were fucking rubbish. They
were really bad.”

“I don’t think we ever did, to be perfectly honest,” agrees Mark,
asked to what extent they felt kinship with the NWOBHM. “It was a bit...
and again, this is no disrespect to the other bands. I mean, I speak
for myself, but at the time, collectively, we thought most of the bands
that were coming out were pale imitations of the ‘70s rock bands, like
Saxon and Samson and Maiden, and all those sort of things. We thought
they were they were pale imitations of what went before them. And so we
didn’t actually aim, like I said, to be anything, really. We didn’t aim
to be a punk band. We didn’t aim to be a New Wave Of Heavy Metal Band,
and we didn’t aim to be a rock band. But obviously with our influences,
we were going to be a rock band. And having said what I said, I think,
obviously, all those bands have developed and they’ve got their own
sound and they’re all superb bands, now. But at the start, I don’t think
they... it had all been done before in the ‘70s. And I suppose, you
know, a lot of people could say, well, we were an imitation of maybe the
Pink Fairies or Motorhead, but we weren’t. Because there was a lot more
influences on us, between us. And mainly, funny enough, you have to
have a very keen ear, but the big influence on Tank right at the start
was the early ZZ Top stuff—especially with Algy and Pete.”

So surely Algy can clarify: Tank were’t a bunch of metal-knowing
punks. “No, I’m not, no (laughs); I never had been a punk. I was just a
person who’s got attitude.”

And—just testing—were your band mates, Mark and Peter Brabbs, the bringers of the metal? Or did they just have attitude too?

“No, they, just had attitude, you know, and all that long hair. I’m
not... it was a brilliant time. Pete, unfortunately, he couldn’t handle
the alcohol or the amount of stuff he put up his nose. As I said, I’m
not... I’m just myself. The Algy Ward enigma (laughs). What did I like?
Everything about Ozzy right from the beginning until... well, lately,
he’s just coming out with bullshit. Not necessarily heavy metal, but I
liked bits of Rush. Judas Priest, I’ve never liked either. Iron Maiden,
never liked. Oh, Metallica, I liked. I’m Uncle Algy to them.”

Back to modern times, don’t look to Algy to be able to tour the new Sturmpanzer album...

“No, no, no, no, I can’t tour anymore. My tinnitus is so bad. I can’t
even go... I can’t even have an amplifier. I can’t play into an
amplifier anymore. Everything I do is done very quietly on headphones. I
do it at home. And the only time I let rip is to do vocals. But I’m
nearly finished Sturmpanzer, the next album. I’ve no idea... you know,
no point asking me about what those wankers are going on doing. I have
no interest whatever. I don’t fucking care. It’s taken a long time to
get over my... the loss of my brother. I’ll never get over that, but it
can’t be helped. So I‘ve got to move on. So that’s basically what I’m
doing.”

Of note, through my discussion with Mark, as I tell him how good Algy
is writing, based on what I know, the Breath of the Pit album, Mark
wondered if me if it wasn’t too late to contact Algy and offer to drum
on Sturmpanzer. I dunno, but I’m gonna email Algy when I get back to the
damn office.

As I attempt to wrap up, Algy offers, “Are you sure there’s not
anything else you want to ask? Because I don’t like… You seem to be
okay. If I didn’t like talking with you, I wouldn’t say anything, so
there you are. You can carry on. If you want more stuff, I’ll tell you.”

So I thank him, and we do keep jawing, as I try to get a few nuggets
from him about This Means War, which I’ll try fashion into a stand-alone
piece one day, to add to my 30 or so short eBooks I’ve got over at
zunior.com for 98 cents. There’s also some Saints and The Damned. OK for
the former, venomous come the latter. But it’s hard graft, again, with
points hard to follow, miscommunication, just tough stuff.

Later, back on another tack, I press Algy on whether this odd trip on
a Tank has afforded him the opportunity to meet any of his rock heroes,
although I’m gathering he doesn’t have many!

“I’m trying to think. I’m trying to think. Well, the thing is, I
already met most of them before I was in a band. Because I was as a
roadie for them. I had already met them. I always knew Ozzy. I met Ozzy
in 1974. All right, I’m trying to think. I can remember there was
somebody who was quoted saying something like, ‘Best not meeting your
heroes.’ You know, they’ll let you down. Glenn Hughes, he let me down.
He was a total asshole. David Coverdale was perfectly all right. Jon
Lord didn’t let me down, Roger Glover didn’t let me down, Ian Paice
didn’t let me down. They’re absolute gentleman, as you’d expect they
were. Schenker is a fucking idiot—that’s Michael Schenker, not Rudy. I’m
trying to think. Jimmy Page is a gentleman, Robert Plant is a
gentleman. All of Led Zeppelin are gentleman, were gentleman. I’ve met
so many people and drunk with them—and got drunk with them. I liked Jeff
Beck. You know, there are quite a lot of those old bastards.”

But old bastards he’s also not seen in a long time are the guys from Tank.

“No, no, I have no idea. Pete hasn’t played with a band since, I
think, he was sacked. Mark, no idea. I played with those wankers, Tucker
and Evans a lot. But you probably know more about that than I do.”

And with that it’s a goodnight from me, and from Algy, a chortling, “Stay in yer homes!”

I would Martin as we are both mutual friends but Tucker blocked me
along with so many others over time once he told us off and quickly
blockied us so we couldn't even defend ourselves....I can only imagine
what he is saying as the TRUE fans have heard it all before....AWESOME
REVIEW AND GREAT NEWS IN THE ALGY CAMP....CHEERS!! \w/\w/

Guillaume LabrecqueSorry Martin, but for me, the real Tank is the one with Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans. I enjoyed the early albums with Algy, but the 2 albums with Doogie White on vox are just at another level IMO. Sure, the style changed towards melodic metal, but it was
for the best, these 2 albums are Tank's best for me. I can't wait to
hear Valley Of Tears. Too bad Doogie left to join Schenker (good move
for him though, and I love both ToR albums he sings on) but ZP Theart
should do a fine job. I didn't care at all for Breath of The Pit...
Average songs and bad production ruined the album for me...

Martin PopoffThis
is more metaphysical than that. The real Tank is Algy's - any listen to
Breath can tell you that. Having said that, we are all in our rights to
like the other one better. It's just ludicrious to call it Tank - no
point. It's a bit like Martin Popoff is the best player on the Cleveland
Cavaliers, however I have Labron play my games for me. Plus go tho the
practices. And the press conferences.

Guillaume LabrecqueBreath
Of The Pit sonds like a garage band with no budget. Last 2 Tank albums
sound like a killer professional band. And with both guitarists in the
band since 1983-1984, I think they have every right to call it Tank.

Martin PopoffThe
real Tank is the riffs on the first three albums, and Breath. It's
exquisite writing on Breath, despite the unfortunate pick of drum
machine. But even that is fine, weirdly. Mick's Tank is a fine band.
Love the guy, and Doogie is a friend (distantly!). Plus to mean, vocals
and lyrics mean so much. It's just no contest. Algy is Tank.

Mick Tuckerwho
the fuck are you to tell me what to do with my music its got fuck all
to do with you so keep your jaundiced comments to your self .. supose
its like me saying you need a facelift you ugly twat

Martin PopoffThis
is crazy, Mick. I wouldn't even insult you by calling you a Tank cover
band. As Guillaume says, you are probably better than Tank by some
measures. You don't even try cover Tank, except when you have to play
the old songs live. On the other hand, I'm
flooored by the writing on Breath of the Pit, and that's Tank's singer.
That's like 75% of Tank right there - he jut needs a drummer. And Mark
is willing to do it, but it sounds like Algy is too far into the new
album to switch the drums - too bad. He should.

Martin PopoffMick,
all I'm saying is Tank means those vocals, those lyrics, those
"thinking man's Motorhead riffs," that scrappy production... it's just a
stupid naming argument! You're a great band but it's not Tank.

Mick Tuckerthey
cant and never will play live if they do it will be a fiasco as it
always was i heard stormpants and its not very good hope it keeps in
the same tradition as the last album ... as the words of holland ardshok
review ... the worst album i ever heard

Martin PopoffI
gotta say, it was painful talking to Algy and I can see how it would be
insane trying to work with the guy, but he's a friggin' GENIUS. Half
dead, it sounds like, sure, but he's a metal songwriting legend.
Unfortunate as that was going with drum machine, the songs are front to
back amazing.

Martin PopoffYou're
right. He can never play live. So Tank basicaly doesn't exist as a live
act. You can up and play that stuff, but you're different people
walking around. What they hell... if you aren't Algy, Mark and Peter... I
just don't get it.

Martin PopoffYes,
it's a compromise and it's less because of that. But Algy is singing,
writing the words and the lusic for the whole thing... if we are to
believe the credts. If Mick said he wrote a lot, fair enough, but it's
still Algy singing and likely Algy lyrics and SOME music. And it helps
that Mick and Cliff are there, and it helps that the music is very much
Tank-ish.

Guillaume LabrecqueFor
what it's worth, I'm not that crazy about Still At War. War Machine
and War Nation were far superior in my book. I prefer the more classic
metal style and the songwriting and singing are better.

Martin PopoffBoth
of you, geez, the Ramones can't cut it live anymore either, but that
doesn't mean somebody else has to play live under that logo. You know,
we can accept that there is no live version of Tank because of Algy's
tinnitus.

Martin PopoffAlgy
said something weird, but he's so friggin' hard to understand... was
there some attempt at him working with Mick and them? They friggin's
shoulda done. Mick should realize how incredible a songwritier Algy is.

Martin PopoffExcept
everything you like about it is opposite to Tank at least as most
people understand them and love them to be... I might even like Coldplay
if King's X wrote and performed all their songs.

Martin PopoffI
guess my bias is that the most important people in any band in order
are 1. the lyricist 2. the singer 3. the music writer 4. the guitarist
5. the drummer 6. the bassist. I pretty much base who I want to
interview on that.

Breno Raphaldini DinossauroI
like the "new Tank" but I don't think it is Tank either. First, no
original member, second it doesn't sound anything like Tank, it sounds
more like Saxon. It's the same thing with Riot V, at least they put a
"V" in the name, but it's just preposterous that they erased the Riot
page on wikepedia and put a "Riot V" page instead.

Oleg TankmanGreat interview! ALGY is TANK! Martin Popoff
is a LEGEND! Hackers calling itself "Tank" must retire & change
name of their band! No matter how good or bad they are, that's not
TANK. Thank you Martin again! We salute you! This is historical article!
HAMMER ON!

Garth ConanI
was thinking the same thing with Riot or Riot V but I ain't opening up
that can of worms! I will however touch upon this subject regarding
Tank. I highly respect Martin Popoff and his views on this subject and they have nothing to do with opinion and
everything to do with fact...that simple. When the man is right the man
is right! I understand Algys views on the NWOBHM era and he's right
although a huge fan of many bands of that era alot of them would quickly
soften or totally change and the scene would crash all over
$$$$....TANK never did and always stuck to their cannons! I was
listening to this band when I was 8 in '84 when my dad would crank their
albums for me as a kid while growing up on Long Isand in New
York...loved em then and still do so I understand the logic Martin
speaks of...there is NO argument neccesary....I myself dealt with Tucker
and Evans first hand in the "Tank" group now re-named "TANK (ALGY WARD
OFFICIAL FAN PAGE) ~ The REAL Filth Hounds!" and it wasn't a pleasure at
all. Tucker constantly bashing threatening of the fans and myself led
to me contacting the admin who was unaware of these activities to take
over the group. Once I brought order to this page for the fans him and
his cronies still would not stop so unfortunatly him along with Evans
and quite a few others that went beyond crossing the line as far as how
the rest of the fans were being treated and the nasty assumtions said
about Algy that I had to remove them...it was that bad. It wasn't even
about music it was all about how many Algy fans they can we piss on. I
don't care how good the new Tank is without Algy to whoever if those
band members are going to disregard other humans/fans to this level then
I will not support thier future work even if it was the real Tank.
Anyone that supports that kind of behavior is condoning it. So not only
is about respect to the real TANK legacy but respecting the fans
overall....this is a double edge sword either way you're getting
stabbed. I'd rather stick with Algy and get blown away!! I completly
understand why Algy has to make new Tank music the way he does with his
health and being an introvert..one who doesn't associate with many...it
all makes sense to me. If the artist makes the music that's what's
important...he's not making it for himself he's making it for us all.
Plenty of musicians make only for themselves which is fine as
well...it's theirs so they are free to choose. This guy is still alive
and kicking and gets less respect than artists that died from drugs or
killed themselves long before they even reached 40....ALGY IS
TANK...LEMMY IS MOTORHEAD....oh and btw ALGY WARD IS A REAL SINGER...if
you don't like his vocals then you don't like TANK and any legacy
they've already created in the past...the guy is a GENIUS.

Guillaume LabrecqueSay
what you will, you're entitled to your opinion. Like it or not, that
gives us 2 Tank bands (even though one is a solo act) and I know the one
I prefer. BTW, I respect Algy's work and legacy, but he was surely
never a great singer (same as Lemmy), he's a vocalist who had an
original style. Notice the wink when I talked about the "real" singer
thing...

Garth ConanAlgy's
lyrics and attitude surely makes up for that the fact that he's not a
great singer as you say. A great singer has nothing to do with how many
octaves or anything else...it's his style and swagger that makes him
beyond a great singer. He is a songwriter and a musician not just a
singer. One man band or not he is still Tank and sounds like Tank unlike
the other sham calling themselves Tank....

Garth ConanAre
you out of your mind??????????? I have respected those two for over 20
years!! It's those guys especially Tucker who has not only told me to go
to hell but many others that I know....this guy even threatened
numerous people with violence and even told
someone that didn't even ask for it to go sleep with his own
mother...it's all documented here on fb. I know 100's of musicians
personally promote them get them signed arrange interviews etc and I've
met a few a few screws short but Tucker is as bad as Geoff Tate. If Tank
had a high profile like Queensryche this would be everywhere....

Oleg TankmanAnd
yes, "Still at War" was recorded without Tucker, 80% guitars been done
by Algy & only 20% by Evans, but still Tucker got credits on the
album. "Honour & Blood" with only few solos from Evans. According to
Algy Tucker lost all interest in Tank at that time, but he seems
started intrested in Tank when Algy got ill & couldn't do any live
gigs anymore.

Guillaume LabrecqueI
don't know Mick other than via FB. I just happen to love the last 2
Tank discs, to look forward to the upcoming one and to think the band
has every right to be called Tank. That's all.

Oleg TankmanWhat right? Who's the original member of this scumband? NO ONE! Go to www.tankfilthhounds.net
for all the history of the band, you won't find any Tucker's photo's in
there though , because he "asked" me to remove them, and it was right
because he doesn't belong to the band we all know & love!

Dan DragoGreat article Martin Popoff.
I whole heartedly agree with you when it comes to Tank but they are
also one of my favorite bands. Algy has one of the finest voices in hard
rock. Please write the book on This Means War. That would be amazing.
Still At War
is one of the most underrated releases ever. I just wish he would have
used a live drummer on Sturmpanzer and on Breath of the Pit as well but I
will take any new Algy Tank material that I can get regardless.